Which Caterham as first Caterham?
Discussion
Planning on buying a Caterham in the spring, once I return full time to the UK.
Will be a second/weekend car. Mostly road use but with the occasional track day thrown in.
Going for second hand rather than new. Budget up to £25k (but not adverse to paying less!)
It would be my first Caterham. However, have had lots of other performance cars (and a couple of bikes) over the years.
I was thinking of going for a Superlight /Superlight R or an R300. Would want LSD, 6 speed, FIA roll-over bar and 13 inch wheels. Thoughts?
Will be a second/weekend car. Mostly road use but with the occasional track day thrown in.
Going for second hand rather than new. Budget up to £25k (but not adverse to paying less!)
It would be my first Caterham. However, have had lots of other performance cars (and a couple of bikes) over the years.
I was thinking of going for a Superlight /Superlight R or an R300. Would want LSD, 6 speed, FIA roll-over bar and 13 inch wheels. Thoughts?
I would suggest you hire one and see how you get on. That'll give you an idea of how much power you're looking for. I was convinced I'd only be happy with an R300, but drove a Roadsport 125 and loved it. Ended up with a 140 and it feels pretty good to me.
If you're looking for bike-like acceleration though, you'll need to be looking at some fairly powerful ones.
If you're looking for bike-like acceleration though, you'll need to be looking at some fairly powerful ones.
Pdelamare said:
Looks lovely...although don't the engine in the R500 have to be rebuilt every 6'000 miles or so? I have driven a Supersport SV in Switzerland with around 180 bhp. That seemed like quite enough to start with, so think perhaps an R500 might be going too far.
I know that there is no such thing as too much power....but, aim with the Caterham it to do a few track days and try to improve my driving. In that case less might be more.
Schnellmann said:
I know that there is no such thing as too much power....but, aim with the Caterham it to do a few track days and try to improve my driving. In that case less might be more.
Sounds sensible. Having been passed quite convincingly by an Academy car while I was driving my 140, the limiting factor is clearly me, and not the car.That said, a bit more power on the straights wouldn't be a bad thing....
Schnellmann said:
Pdelamare said:
You'd probably still build it better than the factory....
OK. Interesting to hear. In any case, I will be buying 2nd hand, not new, so hopefully any problems with the original build - whoever did it - will have been resolved.Maybe I'm too cynical
Minimum 200bhp. Either Duratec or K.
I bought both my sevens from Caterham. If I was looking for a third, I wouldn't go back there. Keep an eye on the classifieds here. I've seen some really good deals pop up.
You can of course go the route of buying a £12k car and then spend some money on getting the bits you want. Dave Andrews (DVAPower) is the man to go to if you need more oomph from a K.
I bought both my sevens from Caterham. If I was looking for a third, I wouldn't go back there. Keep an eye on the classifieds here. I've seen some really good deals pop up.
You can of course go the route of buying a £12k car and then spend some money on getting the bits you want. Dave Andrews (DVAPower) is the man to go to if you need more oomph from a K.
They are all fun and anything with 140 bhp or more will keep you busy; suggest you don't go too much over 160ish bhp for your first one. 200plus is fine except you can''t use it as often as you can use all the power in a lower powered car and you need to be very aware of the fact that there is no safety net in the form of tcs etc .
I'd work on the Cinderella Principle in that somewhere there is the ideal fit for you. Along the way there will be those that advise to slip your dainty feet into a pair or running spikes or some who will advocate squash shoes or diamante encrusted football boots. Everyone is different, with our individual abilities and requirements. You might be more comfortable, happier and safer in a good pair of pumps, but until you experience them for yourself, you won't know. I say it's better to get to know a car, develop a relationship and realise you've outgrown it and move on than urgently snatch the fastest, scariest thing you can afford and live to fear/regret it.
Pdelamare said:
You'd probably still build it better than the factory....
Bassed on what? Is it because someone is a bloke therefore by default they are born to build a perfect caterham and have good perceived DIY skills, have you seen some comments on here where its suggested to cut wires to get the head light loom through the frame, or putting the front wish bone bolts in the wrong way around and trimming the bolt head! hmmm let me think about that for a moment! better than the factory.... erm if you say so.
So for the competent amateur, they will give it a good go and do a good job but I suggest that there will be some mechanical experience the individual has.
The amateur who is full of self belief but no actual experience, well good luck to them and whoever buys the car after.
Don't get me wrong this is a component build car very little drilling or cutting if any, but the level of competence of an amateur build varies widely
I am sure there is a whole array of competence from awful to great in self build cars.
And before any one starts to point out the niggles you may have experienced from a factory build car, remember its build by humans not robots and if you want that perfect car buy something form the VAG group........Hmm but then again haven't VW just recalled 2.3 M cars!
coppice said:
They are all fun and anything with 140 bhp or more will keep you busy; suggest you don't go too much over 160ish bhp for your first one. 200plus is fine except you can''t use it as often as you can use all the power in a lower powered car and you need to be very aware of the fact that there is no safety net in the form of tcs etc .
140 is great for road use too. You can keep your foot flat a lot more often and make the most out of the power available. 200bhp or more and you're going to keeping a lot in reserve.For first Caterham it depends on what kind of driver you are I guess and arguably that's something only you can answer. It's like a first bike. General advice is to start with a lower CC bike but I'm aware of plenty who've had 700cc plus bikes for their first bike and not had a problem.
Personally I don't think you need to spend £25K on your first one and you'd learn plenty about owning and driving one with a car that cost £5-10K less. I'm not saying don't spend £25K just that maybe you don't have to. Drive that for a year or two and then you'll have a real understanding of what you what in the second Caterham. ie. LSD, 5 or 6 speed etc.
Based on my experience of getting an ex-Academy 1.6 K car I'd say 1.6 K is about perfect for a first Caterham and you've got to drive it like some kind of idiot to get yourself into any trouble on a public road. Might be lacking in puff on the track though but not been there yet - that's 2014!
But do exercise some caution when you do buy it. I got a short ban within 10 minutes of picking up mine and others have written them off.
Personally I don't think you need to spend £25K on your first one and you'd learn plenty about owning and driving one with a car that cost £5-10K less. I'm not saying don't spend £25K just that maybe you don't have to. Drive that for a year or two and then you'll have a real understanding of what you what in the second Caterham. ie. LSD, 5 or 6 speed etc.
Based on my experience of getting an ex-Academy 1.6 K car I'd say 1.6 K is about perfect for a first Caterham and you've got to drive it like some kind of idiot to get yourself into any trouble on a public road. Might be lacking in puff on the track though but not been there yet - that's 2014!
But do exercise some caution when you do buy it. I got a short ban within 10 minutes of picking up mine and others have written them off.
Gassing Station | Caterham | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff